Which strategy can improve affordable housing availability?

Establishing inclusionary zoning or regulations is a widely recognized strategy to improve the availability of affordable housing. This approach involves requiring or incentivizing developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing units in new residential developments. By integrating affordable units within market-rate developments, inclusionary zoning aims to create diverse communities and ensure that low-income households can access housing in various neighborhoods, rather than being segregated into specific areas.

This method is effective because it directly addresses the supply side of affordable housing by creating more units that are accessible to those with lower incomes. It also helps to promote economic diversity within neighborhoods, contributing to a broader range of social benefits, including improved community cohesion and reduced poverty concentrations.

The other strategies listed, while they may have their merits in different contexts, do not directly enhance the supply of affordable housing in the same manner. For example, increased property taxes for low-income units could discourage investment in those properties, while reducing public housing projects typically decreases the available options for low-income people. Similarly, raising the minimum wage, while beneficial for increasing individual income, does not ensure that affordable housing units are constructed or maintained, thus not directly addressing the housing supply issue.